U.S. patent application number 16/906721 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-08 for methods to support configured grant transmission and retransmission.
This patent application is currently assigned to Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). The applicant listed for this patent is Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ). Invention is credited to Mattias ANDERSSON, Yufei BLANKENSHIP, Sorour FALAHATI, Jianwei ZHANG.
Application Number | 20200322118 16/906721 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004926831 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-08 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200322118 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
ZHANG; Jianwei ; et
al. |
October 8, 2020 |
METHODS TO SUPPORT CONFIGURED GRANT TRANSMISSION AND
RETRANSMISSION
Abstract
In one aspect there is a method performed by a wireless device,
WD. The method includes: (1) the WD receiving a PUSCH-Config IE
from a base station, wherein the PUSCH-Config IE includes a first
set of PUSCH configuration parameters, wherein the first set of
PUSCH configuration parameters includes at least one of the
following: txConfig, maxRank, or codebookSubset; and (2) the WD
transmitting data on the PUSCH corresponding to a configured grant
using the first set of PUSCH configuration parameters.
Inventors: |
ZHANG; Jianwei; (Solna,
SE) ; ANDERSSON; Mattias; (Sundbyberg, SE) ;
BLANKENSHIP; Yufei; (Kildeer, IL) ; FALAHATI;
Sorour; (Stockholm, SE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) |
Stockholm |
|
SE |
|
|
Assignee: |
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
(publ)
Stockholm
SE
|
Family ID: |
1000004926831 |
Appl. No.: |
16/906721 |
Filed: |
June 19, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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PCT/IB2019/058242 |
Sep 27, 2019 |
|
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16906721 |
|
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62738048 |
Sep 28, 2018 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 1/1819 20130101;
H04L 5/0098 20130101; H04W 72/042 20130101; H04W 72/14
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 5/00 20060101
H04L005/00; H04W 72/04 20060101 H04W072/04; H04L 1/18 20060101
H04L001/18; H04W 72/14 20060101 H04W072/14 |
Claims
1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:
performing a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) reception,
thereby receiving content of the PDCCH; determining whether the
content of the PDCCH matches or indicates an activation command
based at least in part on HARQ process number and redundancy
version values of the received PDCCH; as a result of determining
that the content of the PDCCH matches or indicates the activation
command, checking a particular field in the content of the PDCCH to
determine whether the field is set to a first value; and as a
result of determining that that the particular field is set to the
first value, treating the content of the PDCCH as an activation
command.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the content of the PDCCH
comprises downlink control information (DCI) comprising a new data
indicator (NDI) field, and checking the particular field in the
content of the PDCCH to determine whether the field is set to the
particular value comprises checking the NDI field to determine
whether the NDI field is set to the first value.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether
the content of the PDCCH indicates configured grant Type 2
activation.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: as a result of
determining that the content of the PDCCH indicates configured
grant Type 2 activation, triggering configured uplink grant
confirmation.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: as a result of
determining that the content of the PDCCH indicates configured
grant Type 2 activation, storing an uplink grant and associated
HARQ information as configured uplink grant and initialising or
re-initialising the configured uplink grant for the serving cell to
start in an associated PUSCH duration.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: as a result of
determining that the content of the PDCCH does not match or
indicate the activation command, checking the particular field in
the content of the PDCCH to determine whether the field is set to a
second value; and as a result of determining that that the
particular field is set to the second value, treating the content
of the PDCCH as retransmission grant.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: as a result of
determining that the particular field is not set to the first
value, checking the particular field to determine whether the field
is set to a second value; and as a result of determining that that
the particular field is set to the second value, treating the
content of the PDCCH as retransmission grant.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: as a result of
determining that the content of the PDCCH does not match or
indicate the activation command, treating the content of the PDCCH
as retransmission grant.
9. A wireless device (WD), the WD comprising: at least one
processor; and a non-transitory memory including software
instructions configured to control the WD to perform steps of:
performing a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) reception,
thereby receiving content of the PDCCH; determining whether the
content of the PDCCH matches or indicates an activation command
based at least in part on HARQ process number and redundancy
version values of the received PDCCH; as a result of determining
that the content of the PDCCH matches or indicates the activation
command, checking a particular field in the content of the PDCCH to
determine whether the field is set to a first value; and as a
result of determining that that the particular field is set to the
first value, treating the content of the PDCCH as an activation
command.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of International Patent
Application No. PCT/IB2019/058242, filed on Sep. 27, 2019, which
claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No.
62/738,048, filed on Sep. 28, 2018. The above identified
applications are incorporated by this reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates to supporting configured grant
transmission and retransmission.
BACKGROUND
1. PUSCH Transmission
[0003] PUSCH transmissions can be: (1) dynamically scheduled by an
UL grant in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) (this is referred
to as a Dynamic Grant); (2) semi-statically configured and
scheduled by higher layer parameters without detection of an UL
grant in a DCI (this is referred to as a Type 1 Configured Grant);
or (3) semi-statically configured by higher layer parameters and
semi-persistently scheduled by an UL grant in a DCI (this is
referred to as a Type 2 Configured Grant).
[0004] The higher layer RRC parameters to apply for a Dynamic Grant
and the higher layer RRC parameters to apply for a Configured Grant
are defined in 3GPP TS 38.331 15.3.0 ("TS 38.331") in information
elements (IEs) PUSCH-Config and ConfiguredGrantConfig,
respectively.
[0005] As explained in TS 38.331, "[t]he IE ConfiguredGrantConfig
is used to configure uplink transmission without dynamic grant
according to two possible schemes. The actual uplink grant may
either be configured via RRC (type 1) or provided via the PDCCH
(addressed to CS-RNTI) (type2)." The ConfiguredGrantConfig IE as
defined in TS 38.331 at section 6.3.2 is shown below:
TABLE-US-00001 -- ASN1 START -- TAG-CONFIGUREDGRANTCONFIG-START
ConfiguredGrantConfig ::= SEQUENCE { frequencyHopping ENUMERATED
{intraSlot, interSlot} OPTIONAL, -- Need S, cg-DMRS-Configuration
DMRS-UplinkConfig, mcs-Table ENUMERATED {qam256, qam64LowSE}
OPTIONAL, -- Need S mcs-TableTransformPrecoder ENUMERATED {qam256,
qam64LowSE } OPTIONAL, -- Need S uci-OnPUSCH SetupRelease {
CG-UCI-OnPUSCH } OPTIONAL, -- Need M resourceAllocation ENUMERATED
{ resourceAllocationTypeO, resourceAllocationType1, dynamicSwitch
}, rbg-Size ENUMERATED {config2} OPTIONAL, -- Need S
powerControlLoopToUse ENUMERATED {n0, n1}, p0-PUSCH-Alpha
P0-PUSCH-AlphaSetId, transformPrecoder ENUMERATED {enabled,
disabled} OPTIONAL, -- Need S nrofHARQ-Processes INTEGER(1..16),
repK ENUMERATED {nl, n2, n4, n8}, repK-RV ENUMERATED {s1-0231,
s2-0303, s3-0000} OPTIONAL, -- Need R periodicity ENUMERATED {
sym2, sym7, sym1x14, sym2x14, sym4x14, sym5x14, sym8x14, sym10x14,
sym16x14, sym20x14, sym32x14, sym40x14, sym64x14, sym80x14,
sym128x14, sym160x14, sym256x14, sym320x14, sym512x14, sym640x14,
sym1024x14, sym1280x14, sym2560x14, sym5120x14, sym6, sym1x12,
sym2x12, sym4x12, sym5x12, sym8x12, sym10x12, sym16x12, sym20x12,
sym32x12, sym40x12, sym64x12, sym80x12, sym128x12, sym160x12,
sym256x12, sym320x12, sym512x12, sym640x12, sym1280x12, sym2560x12
}, configuredGrantTimer INTEGER (1..64) OPTIONAL, -- Need R
rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant SEQUENCE { timeDomainOffset INTEGER
(0..5119), timeDomainAllocation INTEGER (0..15),
frequencyDomainAllocation BIT STRING (SIZE(18)), antennaPort
INTEGER (0..31), dmrs-SeqInitialization INTEGER (0..1) OPTIONAL, --
Need R precodingAndNumberOfLayers INTEGER (0..63),
srs-ResourceIndicator INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL, -- Need R mcsAndTBS
INTEGER (0..31), frequencyHoppingOffset INTEGER (1..
maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1) OPTIONAL, -- Need R
pathlossReferenceIndex INTEGER
(0..maxNrofPUSCH-PathlossReferenceRSs-1), ... } OPTIONAL, -- Need R
... } CG-UCI-OnPUSCH ::= CHOICE { dynamic SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..4)) OF
BetaOffsets, semiStatic BetaOffsets }--
TAG-CONFIGUREDGRANTCONFIG-STOP -- ASN1STOP
[0006] The descriptions for the fields (parameters) included in the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE are provided below:
TABLE-US-00002 ConfiguredGrantConfig field descriptions antennaPort
Indicates the antenna port(s) to be used for this configuration,
and the maximum bitwidth is 5. See 3GPP TS 38.214 ("TS 38.214"),
section 6.1.2, and TS 38.212, section 7.3.1. cg-DMRS-Configuration
DMRS configuration, corresponds to L1 parameter `UL-TWG-DMRS` (see
TS 38.214, section 6.1.2). configuredGrantTimer Indicates the
initial value of the configured grant timer (see TS 38.321,) in
number of periodicities. dmrs-SeqInitialization The network
configures this field if transformPrecoder is disabled. Otherwise
the field is absent. frequencyDomainAllocation Indicates the
frequency domain resource allocation, see TS 38.214, section 6.1.2,
and TS 38.212, section 7.3.1). frequencyHopping The value intraSlot
enables `Intra-slot frequency hopping` and the value interSlot
enables `Interslot frequency hopping`. If the field is absent,
frequency hopping is not configured. frequencyHoppingOffset Enables
intra-slot frequency hopping with the given frequency hopping
offset. Frequency hopping offset used when requency hopping is
enabled. Corresponds to L1 parameter `Frequency-hopping-offset`
(see TS 38.214, section 6.1.2). mcs-Table Indicates the MCS table
the UE shall use for PUSCH without transform precoding. If the
field is absent the UE applies the value 64QAM.
mcs-TableTransformPrecoder Indicates the MCS table the UE shall use
for PUSCH with transform precoding. If the field is absent the UE
applies the value 64QAM. mcsAndTBS The modulation order, target
code rate and TB size (see TS38.214, section 6.1.2). The NW does
not configure the values 28~31 in this version of the
specification. nrofHARQ-Processes The number of HARQ processes
configured. It applies for both Type 1 and Type 2. See TS 38.321,
section 5.4.1. p0-PUSCH-Alpha Index of the P0-PUSCH-AlphaSet to be
used for this configuration. periodicity Periodicity for UL
transmission without UL grant for type 1 and type 2. Corresponds to
L1 parameter `UL-TWG-periodicity` (see TS 38.321, section 5.8.2).
The following periodicities are supported depending on the
configured subcarrier spacing [symbols]: 15 kHz: 2, 7, n*14, where
n = {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128, 160, 320, 640}
30 kHz: 2, 7, n*14, where n = {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40,
64, 80, 128, 160, 256, 320, 640, 1280} 60 kHz with normal CP: 2, 7,
n*14, where n = {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128,
160, 256, 320, 512, 640, 1280, 2560} 60 kHz with ECP: 2, 6, n*12,
where n = {1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128, 160,
256, 320, 512, 640, 1280, 2560} 120 kHz: 2, 7, n*14, where n = {1,
2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 128, 160, 256, 320, 512,
640, 1024, 1280, 2560, 5120} (see 38.214, Table 6.1.2.3-1)
powerControlLoopToUse Closed control loop to apply. Corresponds to
L1 parameter `PUSCH-closed-loop-index` (see TS 38.213, section
7.7.1). rbg-Size Selection between configuration 1 and
configuration 2 for RBG size for PUSCH. When the field is absent
the UE applies the value config1. The NW may only set the field to
config2 if resourceAllocation is set to resourceAllocationType0 or
dynamicSwitch. Note: rbg-Size is used when the transformPrecoder
parameter is disabled. repK-RV The redundancy version (RV) sequence
to use. See TS 38.214, section 6.1.2. The network configures this
field if repetitions are used, i.e., if repK is set to n2, n4 or
n8. Otherwise, the field is absent. repK The number or repetitions
of K. resourceAllocation Configuration of resource allocation type
0 and resource allocation type 1. For Type 1 UL data transmission
without grant, "resourceAllocation" should be
resourceAllocationType0 or resourceAllocationType1.
rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant Configuration for "configured grant"
transmission with fully RRC-configured UL grant (Type1). If this
field is absent the UE uses UL grant configured by DCI addressed to
CS-RNTI (Type2). Type 1 configured grant may be configured for UL
or SUL, but not for both simultaneously. srs-ResourceIndicator
Indicates the SRS resource to be used. timeDomainAllocation
Indicates a combination of start symbol and length and PUSCH
mapping type, see TS 38.214, section 6.1.2 and TS 38.212, section
7.3.1. timeDomainOffset Offset related to SFN = 0, see TS 38.321,
section 5.8.2. transformPrecoder Enables or disables transform
precoding for type1 and type2. If the field is absent, the UE
enables or disables transform precoding in accordance with the
field msg3-transformPrecoder in RACH-ConfigCommon, see 38.214,
section 6.1.3. uci-OnPUSCH Selection between and configuration of
dynamic and semi-static beta-offset. For Type 1 UL data
transmission without grant, uci-OnPUSCH should be set to
semiStatic.
[0007] As explained in TS 38.331, "[t]he IE PUSCH-Config is used to
configure the UE specific PUSCH parameters applicable to a
particular BWP." The PUSCH-Config IE as defined in TS 38.331 at
section 6.3.2 is shown below:
TABLE-US-00003 -- ASN1START -- TAG-PUSCH-CONFIG-START PUSCH-Config
::= SEQUENCE { dataScramblingIdentityPUSCH INTEGER (0..1023)
OPTIONAL, -- Need S txConfig ENUMERATED {codebook, nonCodebook}
OPTIONAL, - - Need S dmrs-UplinkForPUSCH-MappingTypeA SetupRelease
{DMRS-UplinkConfig } OPTIONAL, -- Need M
dmrs-UplinkForPUSCH-MappingTypeB SetupRelease {DMRS-UplinkConfig }
OPTIONAL, -- Need M pusch-PowerControl PUSCH-PowerControl OPTIONAL,
-- Need M frequencyHopping ENUMERATED {intraS lot, interS lot}
OPTIONAL, -- Need S frequencyHoppingOffsetLists SEQUENCE (SIZE
(1..4)) OF INTEGER (1.. maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1) OPTIONAL,
-- Need M resourceAllocation ENUMERATED { resourceAllocationTypeO,
resourceAllocationType1, dynamicSwitch},
pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList SetupRelease {
PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocationList } OPTIONAL, -- Need M
pusch-AggregationFactor ENUMERATED { n2, n4, n8 } OPTIONAL, -- Need
S mcs-Table ENUMERATED {qam256, qam64LowSE} OPTIONAL, -- Need S
mcs-TableTransformPrecoder ENUMERATED {qam256, qam64LowSE}
OPTIONAL, -- Need S transformPrecoder ENUMERATED {enabled,
disabled} OPTIONAL, -- Need S codebookSubset ENUMERATED
{fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent, partialAndNonCoherent, nonCoherent
} OPTIONAL, -- Cond codebookBased maxRank INTEGER (1..4) OPTIONAL,
-- Cond codebookBased rbg-Size ENUMERATED {config2} OPTIONAL, --
Need S uci-OnPUSCH SetupRelease {UCI-OnPUSCH} OPTIONAL, -- Need M
tp-pi2BPSK ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, -- Need S ... }
UCI-OnPUSCH ::= SEQUENCE { betaOffsets CHOICE { dynamic SEQUENCE
(SIZE (4)) OF BetaOffsets, semiStatic BetaOffsets } OPTIONAL, --
Need M scaling ENUMERATED {f0p5, f0p65, f0p8, f1 } } --
TAG-PUSCH-CONFIG-STOP -- ASN1STOP
[0008] The descriptions for the fields (parameters) included in the
PUSCH-Config IE are provided below:
TABLE-US-00004 PUSCH-Config field descriptions codebookSubset
Subset of PMIs addressed by TPMI, where PMIs are those supported by
UEs with maxi- mum coherence capabilities Corresponds to L1
parameter `ULCodebookSubset` (see 38.211, section 6.3.1.5).
dataScramblingIdentityPUSCH Identifier used to initalite data
scrambling (c_init) for PUSCH. If the field is absent, the UE
applies the physical cell ID. (see 38.211, section 6.3.1.1).
dmrs-UplinkForPUSCH-MappingTypeA DMRS configuration for PUSCH
transmissions using PUSCH mapping type A (chosen dynamically via
PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation). Only the fields dmrs-Type,
dmrs-AdditionalPosition and maxLength may be set differently for
mapping type A and B. dmrs-UplinkForPUSCH-MappingTypeB DMRS
configuration for PUSCH transmissions using PUSCH mapping type B
(chosen dynamically via PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation).Only
the fields dmrs-Type, dmrs-AdditionalPosition and maxLength may be
set differently for mapping type A and B. frequencyHopping The
value intraSlot enables `Intra-slot frequency hopping` and the
value interSlot enables `Interslot frequency hopping`. If the field
is absent, frequency hopping is not configured. Corresponds to L1
parameter `Frequency-hopping-PUSCH` (see 38.214, section 6).
frequencyHoppingOffsetLists Set of frequency hopping offsets used
when frequency hopping is enabled for granted transmission (not
msg3) and type 2 Corresponds to L1 parameter `Frequency-hopping-
offsets-set` (see 38.214, section 6.3). maxRank Subset of PMIs
addressed by TRIs from 1 to ULmaxRank. Corresponds to L1 parameter
`ULmaxRank` (see 38.211, section 6.3.1.5). mcs-Table Indicates
which MCS table the UE shall use for PUSCH without transform
precoder (see 38.214, section 6.1.4.1). If the field is absent the
UE applies the value 64QAM mcs-TableTransformPrecoder Indicates
which MCS table the UE shall use for PUSCH with transform precoding
(see 38.214, section 6.1.4.1) If the field is absent the UE applies
the value 64QAM pusch-AggregationFactor Number of repetitions for
data. Corresponds to L1 parameter `aggregation-factor-UL` (see
38.214, section FFS_Section). If the field is absent the UE applies
the value 1. pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList List of time domain
allocations for timing of UL assignment to UL data. If configured,
the values provided herein override the values received in
corresponding PUSCH-ConfigCom- mon for PDCCH scrambled with C-RNTI
or CS-RNTI but not for CORESET#0 (see 38.214, table 6.1.2.1.1-1).
rbg-Size Selection between configuration 1 and configuration 2 for
RBG size for PUSCH. When the field is absent the UE applies the
value config1. The NW may only set the field to config2 if
resourceAllocation is set to resourceAllocationType0 or
dynamicSwitch. Corresponds to L1 parameter `RBG-size-PUSCH` (see
38.214, section 6.1.2.2.1). resourceAllocation Configuration of
resource allocation type 0 and resource allocation type 1 for
non-fallback DCI Corresponds to L1 parameter
`Resouce-allocation-config` (see 38.214, section 6.1.2). tp-pi2BPSK
Enables pi/2-BPSK modulation with transform precoding if the field
is present and disables it otherwise. transformPrecoder The UE
specific selection of transformer precoder for PUSCH. When the
field is absent the UE applies the value msg3-tp. Corresponds to L1
parameter `PUSCH-tp` (see 38.211, section 6.3.1.4). txConfig
Whether UE uses codebook based or non-codebook based transmission.
Corresponds to L1 parameter `ulTxConfig` (see 38.214, section
6.1.1). If the field is absent, the UE transmits PUSCH on one
antenna port, see 38.214, section 6.1.1. UCI-OnPUSCH field
descriptions beta Offsets Selection between and configuration of
dynamic and semi-static beta-offset. If the field is absent or
released, the UE applies the value `semiStatic` and the BetaOffsets
according to FFS [BetaOffsets and/or section 9.x.x). Corresponds to
L1 parameter `UCI-on-PUSCH` (see 38.213, section 9.3). scaling
Indicates a scaling factor to limit the number of resource elements
assigned to UCI on PUSCH. Value f0p5 corresponds to 0.5, value
f0p65 corresponds to 0.65, and so on. The value configured herein
is applicable for PUCCH with configured grant. Corresponds to L1
parameter `uci-on- pusch-scaling` (see 38.212, section 6.3).
Conditional Presence Explanation codebookBased The field is
mandatory present if txConfig is set to codebook and absent
otherwise.
2. Transmission Schemes
[0009] 3GPP TS 38.214 section 6.1.1 states, "two transmission
schemes are supported for PUSCH: codebook based transmission and
non-codebook based transmission. The UE is configured with codebook
based transmission when the higher layer parameter txConfig in
PUSCH-Config is set to `codebook`, the UE is configured
non-codebook based transmission when the higher layer parameter
txConfig is set to `nonCodebook`. If the higher layer parameter
txConfig is not configured, the UE is not expected to be scheduled
by DCI format 0_1."
3. Configured Grant Transmission and Retransmission
[0010] 3GPP 38.321 states,
TABLE-US-00005 1>else if an uplink grant for this PDCCH occasion
has been received for this Serving Cell on the PDCCH for the MAC
entity`s CS-RNTI: 2>if the NDI in the received HARQ information
is 1: 3>consider the NDI for the corresponding HARQ process not
to have been toggled; 3>start or restart the
configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
configured; 3>deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQ
information to the HARQ entity. 2>else if the NDI in the
received HARQ information is 0: 3>if PDCCH contents indicate
configured grant Type 2 deactivation: 4>trigger configured
uplink grant confirmation. 3>else if PDCCH contents indicate
configured grant Type 2 activation: 4>trigger configured uplink
grant confirmation; 4>store the uplink grant for this Serving
Cell and the associated HARQ information as configured uplink
grant; 4>initialise or re-initialise the configured uplink grant
for this Serving Cell to start in the associated PUSCH duration and
to recur according to rules in subclause 5.8.2; 4>set the HARQ
Process ID to the HARQ Process ID associated with this PUSCH
duration; 4>consider the NDI bit for the corresponding HARQ
process to have been toggled; 4>stop the configuredGrantTimer
for the corresponding HARQ process, if running; 4>deliver the
configured uplink grant and the associated HARQ information to the
HARQ entity.
4. Validation of Activation and Deactivation for Configured Grant
(38.213)
[0011] A version of 3GPP 38.213 states:
5. DCI 0_1 in USS
[0012] The content of DCI 0_1 and DCI 1_1 depends on the
Information Element the DCI is associated with. One example is, if
the frequency hopping is enabled for PUSCH-Config, but disabled for
ConfigureGrantConfig; the bit field for frequency hopping is 1 bit
when DCI applies to PUSCH-Config, 0 bit when DCI applies to
ConfigureGrantConfig.
6. Procedure in 38.321 for Determination of Retransmission,
Activation and Deactivation/Release
[0013] 3GPP TS 38.321 5.4.1 states:
TABLE-US-00006 1>else if an uplink grant for this PDCCH occasion
has been received for this Serving Cell on the PDCCH for the MAC
entity's CS-RNTI: 2>if the NDI in the received HARQ information
is 1: 3>consider the NDI for the corresponding HARQ process not
to have been toggled; 3>start or restart the
configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
configured; 3>deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQ
information to the HARQ entity. 2>else if the NDI in the
received HARQ information is 0: 3>if PDCCH contents indicate
configured grant Type 2 deactivation: 4>trigger configured
uplink grant confirmation. 3>else if PDCCH contents indicate
configured grant Type 2 activation: 4>trigger configured uplink
grant confirmation; 4>store the uplink grant for this Serving
Cell and the associated HARQ information as configured uplink
grant; 4>initialise or re-initialise the configured uplink grant
for this Serving Cell to start in the associated PUSCH duration and
to recur according to rules in subclause 5.8.2; 4>set the HARQ
Process ID to the HARQ Process ID associated with this PUSCH
duration; 4>consider the NDI bit for the corresponding HARQ
process to have been toggled; 4>stop the configuredGrantTimer
for the corresponding HARQ process, if running; 4>deliver the
configured uplink grant and the associated HARQ information to the
HARQ entity.
SUMMARY
[0014] There currently exist certain challenge(s).
[0015] One challenge relates to missing and unclear RRC
configuration for ConfigurationGrant. Several RRC parameters, such
as, for example, txConifg, maxRank, and codebookSubset are only
configured in PUSCH-Config. Hence, It is unclear how the type 2
configured grant PUSCH transmission can get configured with
multiple layers.
[0016] The retransmission of uplink configured grant is not clearly
specified in 3GPP. Whether the retransmission DCI shall apply the
IE for dynamic PUSCH that is PUSCH-Config, or
ConfiguredGrantConfig, or a mix of them is not clear.
[0017] Another challenge relates to an ambiguity of DCI for
activation and retransmission, as illustrated below.
[0018] At the time a user equipment (UE) has received an
activation, for the next received PDCCH that is scrambled with a
CS-RNTI allocated to the UE, the PDCCH (DCI 0_1 message) can be
possibly configured for activation or retransmission. The DCI
format that used to construct the DCI message, how many bits shall
be used for a field follows the RRC configuration that is
associated with the message. If the retransmission applies the
PUSCH-Config configuration, and if the PUSCH-Config configuration
is different from the ConfiguredGrantConfig configuration, there's
ambiguity issue of DCI if the same DCI fields are of different
sizes because of the difference in the configurations.
[0019] The DCI bit field of NDI in the activate signal can be in a
different location than for a retransmission signal. This is
illustrated in the diagram below, which shows the DCI when the
frequency hopping is enabled in dynamic grant but disabled for
configured grant:
[0020] As shown above, the NDI bit in the DCI 0_1 message
associated with the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE is not located in the
same position as the NDI bit in the DCI 0_1 message associated with
the PUSCH-Config IE.
[0021] The ambiguity illustrated above can only occur if the DCI is
of DCI format 0_1, which is the normal DCI for scheduling PUSCH.
This is because the length of FDRA, FH and TDRA fields can vary
according to configuration, and these fields are ahead of the NDI
field in DCI format 0_1 message.
[0022] With the existing procedure in 38.321, the UE considers the
received PDCCH (e.g., DCI 0_1 message) is a retransmission if the
NDI bit is set to a value of 1, and considers the received PDCCH is
activation if the NDI bit is set to a value of 0.
[0023] Consider the following scenarios:
[0024] Scenario 1:
[0025] The network sends a retransmission PDCCH (DCI 0_1 message)
to UE to indicate retransmission of a transport block (TB) of UL
configured grant, where the CRC is scrambled by CS-RNTI. By
coincidence, the DCI 0_1 content matches both 1) a valid
retransmission grant and 2) a valid activation command. This is
possible since the position of the NDI field might be different for
activation commands and for retransmission grants as illustrated
above. If the UE first tries to interpret the DCI content as an
activation command it will find a valid command and might not check
for a retransmission grant.
[0026] Scenario 2:
[0027] The network sends an activation to the UE, and, by
coincidence, the DCI 0_1 message matches both a valid
retransmission grant and a valid activation command. This is
possible since the position of the NDI field might be different for
activation commands and for retransmission grants. If the UE tries
to interpret the DCI content as a retransmission grant it will find
a valid retransmission grant and might not interpret the DCI
content as an activation command (which is sometimes also referred
to as an activation grant).
[0028] Scenario 3
[0029] The network sends a retransmission PDCCH to UE to indicate
retransmission of a TB of UL configured grant, where the CRC is
scrambled by CS-RNTI. If the UE tries to interpret the DCI content
as an activation command based on the value of the bit in the
position where the NDI would be in an activation command but the
rest of the DCI content does not match an activation command the UE
might interpret the DCI contents as inconsistent and not check for
a retransmission grant.
[0030] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their
embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.
[0031] With respect to the first mentioned challenge, the RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset that are related to
multi-antenna and multiple layer transmission may be added to
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE or the UE should simply use the values for
these parameters as indicated in the PUSCH-config configuration.
The configured grant can use DCI 0_1 for activation. In other
words, the configuration in higher layer (RRC) shall support
multiple layers transmission for configured grant by having the UE
use the values of txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset from the
PUSCH-Config configuration or by adding txConfig, maxRank and
codebookSubset to ConfiguredGrantConfig and having the UE use these
values. The txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset values included in
the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE may be different than the txConfig,
maxRank and codebookSubset values included in the PUSCH-Config
IE.
[0032] With respect to the second mentioned challenge (DCI 0_1
message ambiguity), the UE can perform a decoding procedure, as
described herein, to resolve the ambiguity.
[0033] For example, the UE performs detection of PDCCH and handles
possible ambiguity of the signaling, the signal that has a stronger
support for validation shall be assumed to have higher priority
than the other signals. For example, for configured grant, the UE
performs detection of Activation first, and if the validation of
the signal fails, the UE performs detection of Retransmission
signal. Another approach is for the UE to prioritize the results
from Activation detection than Retransmission detection. From the
network node, when the base station (gNb) sends PDCCH (DCI 0_1
message) to UE, the gNB shall try to avoid the combination that
could cause a false detection at the UE side. For configured grant,
the gNb can either avoid different NDI field position for
Activation and Retransmission. Or avoid the false detection by
taking care of the value in DCI field that used as indicator or
validation.
[0034] There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which
address one or more of the issues disclosed herein.
Wireless Device (WD) Embodiments
[0035] In one embodiment, a first method is performed by a wireless
device, and the first method includes performing PDCCH reception
assuming the PDCCH (e.g., a received PDCCH scrambled with CS-RNTI)
is for activation and determining whether the content of the PDCCH
matches (or indicates) an activation command. The method may also
include, as a result of determining that the content of the PDCCH
matches (or indicates) an activation command, checking a particular
field in the PDCCH (e.g., the bit that is in the position of the
NDI field for a activation command) to determine whether the field
(e.g., bit) is set to a value of 0. The method may also include, as
a result of determining that that the field is 0, treating the
PDCCH as an activation command.
[0036] In some embodiments, the method may also include determining
whether the content of the PDCCH indicates configured grant Type 2
activation; and, optionally, as a result of determining that the
content of the PDCCH indicates configured grant Type 2 activation,
triggering configured uplink grant confirmation.
[0037] In some embodiments, the method may also include, as a
result of determining that the content of the PDCCH s indicates
configured grant Type 2 activation, storing an uplink grant and
associated HARQ information as configured uplink grant and,
optionally, initialising or re-initialising the configured uplink
grant for the Serving Cell to start in an associated PUSCH duration
and, optionally, to recur according to rules.
[0038] In another embodiment a second method is performed by a
wireless device, and the second method includes the wireless device
successfully decoding a PDCCH as a retransmission grant; the
wireless device successfully decoding the PDCCH as an activation
command; and the wireless device choosing based on priority whether
to treat the PDCCH as a retransmission grant or as an activation
command.
[0039] In some embodiments, the first method and the second method
may also include providing user data; and forwarding the user data
to a host computer via a transmission to the base station.
[0040] In another embodiment, a third method is performed by the
wireless device, and the third method includes the WD receiving a
ConfiguredGrantConfig information element, IE, transmitted by a
base station, wherein the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE includes at
least one of the following RRC parameters: txConfig, maxRank, or
codebookSubset.
[0041] In another embodiment a fourth method is performed by the
wireless device (WD). The fourth method includes the WD the WD
receiving a PUSCH-Config information element, IE, from a base
station, wherein the PUSCH-Config IE includes a first set of PUSCH
configuration parameters, wherein the first set of PUSCH
configuration parameters includes at least one of the following:
txConfig, maxRank, or codebookSubset. The WD then transmits data on
a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) corresponding to a
configured grant using the first set of PUSCH configuration
parameters. In some embodiments, the method further includes the WD
receiving a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE from a base station. In such
an embodiment the method may further include the WD also using a
second set of PUSCH configuration parameters according to the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to transmit the data on the PUSCH. In some
embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a CS-RNTI. In some
embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a type 1 configured grant
transmission. In some embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a
type 2 configured grant transmission. In some embodiments,
receiving the PUSCH-Config IE comprises the WD receiving a
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which is used to configure dedicated
parameters of an uplink Bandwidth Part, BWP, wherein the
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE includes the PUSCH-Config IE. In some
embodiments, the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE further includes a
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
Base station Embodiments
[0042] In one embodiment, a first method is performed by a base
station, and the first method includes the base station deciding to
configure a WD for uplink transmission without dynamic grant. The
method may also include, as a result of deciding to configure the
WD for uplink transmission without dynamic grant, the base station
generating a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE, wherein, optionally, the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE includes one or more of the following RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset. The method may
also include the base station transmitting the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to the WD.
[0043] In some embodiments, transmitting the ConfiguredGrantConfig
IE comprises at least one of the base station generating a
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which, optionally, is used to configure the
dedicated (WD specific) parameters of an uplink Bandwidth Part
(BWP); and the base station transmitting to the WD the
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE which, optionally, includes the generated
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
[0044] In some embodiments, the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE further
includes a PUSCH-Config IE that contains parameter values for the
one or more of RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and
codebookSubset.
[0045] In some embodiments, the parameter values for the RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset included in the
PUSCH-Config IE are different than the parameter values for the RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset included in the
ConfiguredGrantconfig IE.
[0046] In one embodiment, a second method is performed by a base
station, and the second method includes the base station deciding
to transmit to a WD a DCI configured for a retransmission grant.
The method may also include the base station ensuring that if a WD
decodes the DCI configured for the retransmission grant under the
assumption that the DCI is an activation command the WD will not
determine that the DCI is a valid activation command. The method
may also include the base station transmitting the DCI.
[0047] In some embodiments, the first method and the second method
may also include the base station obtaining user data and
forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless
device.
[0048] In one embodiment, a third method is performed by a base
station, and the third method includes the base station
transmitting to a WD a PUSCH-Config IE, wherein the PUSCH-Config IE
includes a first set of PUSCH configuration parameters, wherein the
first set of PUSCH configuration parameters includes at least one
of the following: txConfig, maxRank, or codebookSubset. The method
also includes the base station instructing or configuring the WD to
perform a configured grant (CG) transmission on the PUSCH using the
first set of parameters.
[0049] In some embodiments, the method also includes the base
station transmitting to the WD a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE. In some
embodiments, the base station instructs or configures the WD to use
a second set of PUSCH configuration parameters according to the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to perform the CG transmission on the
PUSCH.
[0050] In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is associated
with a CS-RNTI. In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is
associated with a type 1 configured grant transmission. In other
embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is associated with a type 2
configured grant transmission.
[0051] In some embodiments, transmitting the PUSCH-Config IE
comprises the base station transmitting a BWP-UplinkDedicated IE,
which is used to configure dedicated parameters of an uplink
Bandwidth Part, BWP, wherein the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE includes
the PUSCH-Config IE. In some embodiments, the BWP-UplinkDedicated
IE further includes a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
[0052] In some embodiments the method also includes the base
station using the first set of parameters to detect the configured
grant transmission performed by the WD.
[0053] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following
technical advantage, including higher spectrum efficiency and low
latency are achieved with supporting multiple layer transmissions
for Configured Grant apply higher layer configurations and DCI
format 0_1. Also, with WD performing activation detection first or
with higher priority, the false detection of retransmission can be
reduced significantly, thereby improving performance by decreasing
latency and increasing spectrum efficiency, which can lead to
higher data rates and longer battery life. With gNB implementation
effort, the false detection because of the ambiguity of the signals
can be avoided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0054] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an
embodiment.
[0055] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an
embodiment.
[0056] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an
embodiment.
[0057] FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating a process according to
an embodiment.
[0058] FIG. 4B is a flowchart illustrating a process according to
an embodiment.
[0059] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to an
embodiment.
[0060] FIG. 6 illustrates an example network.
[0061] FIG. 7 illustrates a WD according to an embodiment.
[0062] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a
virtualization environment.
[0063] FIG. 9 illustrates a communication system.
[0064] FIG. 10 illustrates an example implementation of a WD and a
base station.
[0065] FIGS. 11-14 are flowcharts illustrating different processes
according to various embodiments.
[0066] FIG. 15A illustrates a schematic block diagram of network
node according to an embodiment.
[0067] FIG. 15B illustrates a schematic block diagram of a wireless
device according to an embodiment.
[0068] FIG. 16A is a flow chart illustrating a process according to
an embodiment.
[0069] FIG. 16B is a flow chart illustrating a process according to
an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0070] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted
according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical
field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is
implied from the context in which it is used. All references to
a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be
interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the
element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly
stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not
have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is
explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or
where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another
step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be
applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise,
any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other
embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and
advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the
following description.
[0071] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be
described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the
subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter
should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set
forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of
example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled
in the art. Additional information may also be found in the
Appendix.
[0072] I. Adding or reusing existing RRC parameter to support DCI
0_1 and multiple layer transmission for configured grant.
[0073] In one embodiment, RRC parameters such as txConfig, maxRank
and codebookSubset are added to the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
Adding these RRC parameters to the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE allows
the values of these parameters to be specifically defined for the
configured grant process, without being aligned with parameter
values in PUSCH-Config, which is used for dynamically scheduled
PUSCH (i.e., not according to configured grant)
[0074] In this embodiment, a base station (e.g., gNB) may perform
process 400 (see FIG. 4A), which may begin in step s402. In step
s402, the base station decides to configure a UE for uplink
transmission without dynamic grant. As a result, the base station
generates a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE, wherein the IE includes at
least the following RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and
codebookSubset (step s404). In step s406, the base station
transmits the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to the UE, which then
receives the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE (see step s422 of process 410
shown in FIG. 4B). For example, in step s406, the base station: 1)
generates a BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which is used to configure the
dedicated (UE specific) parameters of an uplink Bandwidth Part
(BWP), and 2) transmits to the UE the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE which
includes the generated ConfiguredGrantConfig IE. The
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE may also include a PUSCH-Config IE that also
contains parameter values for the RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank
and codebookSubset. The parameter values for the RRC parameters
txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset included in the PUSCH-Config
IE may be different than the parameter values for the RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset included in the
ConfiguredGrantconfig IE.
[0075] The table belows shows the ConfiguredGrantconfig IE with the
the RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset
included:
TABLE-US-00007 ASN1START -- TAG-CONFIGUREDGRANTCONFIG-START
ConfiguredGrantConfig ::= SEQUENCE { frequencyHopping ENUMERATED
{intraSlot, interSlot} OPTIONAL, -- Need S, cg-DMRS -Configuration
DMRS-UplinkConfig, mcs-Table ENUMERATED {qam256, qam64LowSE}
OPTIONAL, -- Need S mcs-TableTransformPrecoder ENUMERATED {qam256,
qam64LowSE } OPTIONAL, -- Need S uci-OnPUSCH SetupRelease {
CG-UCI-OnPUSCH } OPTIONAL, -- Need M resourceAllocation ENUMERATED
{ resourceAllocationTypeO, resourceAllocationType1, dynamicSwitch
}, rbg-Size ENUMERATED {config2} OPTIONAL, -- Need S
powerControlLoopToUse ENUMERATED {n0, n1}, p0-PUS CH-Alpha
P0-PUSCH-AlphaSetId, transformPrecoder ENUMERATED {enabled,
disabled} OPTIONAL, -- Need S txConfig ENUMERATED {codebook,
nonCodebook} OPTIONAL, -- Need S codebookSubset ENUMERATED
{fullyAndPartialAndNonCoherent, partialAndNonCoherent, nonCoherent}
OPTIONAL, -- Cond codebookBased maxRank INTEGER (1..4) OPTIONAL, --
Cond codebookBased nrofHARQ-Processes INTEGER(1..16), repK
ENUMERATED {n1, n2, n4, n8}, repK-RV ENUMERATED {s1-0231, s2-0303,
s3-0000} OPTIONAL, -- Need R periodicity ENUMERATED { sym2, sym7,
sym1x14, sym2x14, sym4x14, sym5x14, sym8x14, sym10x14, sym16x14,
sym20x14, sym32x14, sym40x14, sym64x14, sym80x14, sym128x14,
sym160x14, sym256x14, sym320x14, sym512x14, sym640x14, sym1024x14,
sym1280x14, sym2560x14, sym5120x14, sym6, sym1x12, sym2x12,
sym4x12, sym5x12, sym8x12, sym10x12, sym16x12, sym20x12, sym32x12,
sym40x12, sym64x12, sym80x12, sym128x12, sym160x12, sym256x12,
sym320x12, sym512x12, sym640x12, sym1280x12, sym2560x12 },
configuredGrantTimer INTEGER (1..64) OPTIONAL, -- Need R
rrc-ConfiguredUplinkGrant SEQUENCE { timeDomainOffset INTEGER
(0..5119), timeDomainAllocation INTEGER (0..15),
frequencyDomainAllocation BIT STRING (SIZE(18)), antennaPort
INTEGER (0..31), dmrs-SeqInitialization INTEGER (0..1) OPTIONAL, --
Need R precodingAndNumberOfLayers INTEGER (0..63),
srs-ResourceIndicator INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL, -- Need R mcsAndTBS
INTEGER (0..31), frequencyHoppingOffset INTEGER (1..
maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1) OPTIONAL, -- Need R
pathlossReferenceIndex INTEGER
(0..maxNrofPUSCH-PathlossReferenceRSs-1), ... } OPTIONAL, -- Need R
... } CG-UCI-OnPUSCH ::= CHOICE { dynamic SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..4)) OF
BetaOffsets, semiStatic BetaOffsets } --
TAG-CONFIGUREDGRANTCONFIG-STOP -- ASN1 STOP
[0076] In another embodiment, for configured grant, instead of
including the missing RRC parameter in ConfiguredgrantConfig, the
UE uses txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset parameter values
contained in the PUSCH-config configuration. Using this approach
both PUSCH according to configured grant and PUSCH according to
dynamic scheduling share the same parameter values.
[0077] Accordingly, in one aspect there is provided a process 1600
(see FIG. 16A) performed by a WD and a process 1650 (see FIG. 16B)
performed by a base station.
[0078] Process 1600 performed by the WD includes: (1) the WD
receiving a PUSCH-Config information element, IE, from a base
station (step s1602), wherein the PUSCH-Config IE includes a first
set of PUSCH configuration parameters, wherein the first set of
PUSCH configuration parameters includes at least one of the
following: txConfig, maxRank, or codebookSubset; and (2) the WD
performing a transmission of data on the PUSCH wherein the
transmission corresponds to a configured grant using the first set
of PUSCH configuration parameters (step s1604). In some
embodiments, the process 1600 further includes the WD receiving a
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE from a base station. In such an embodiment
the process 1600 may further include the WD also using a second set
of PUSCH configuration parameters according to the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to transmit the data on the PUSCH. In some
embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a CS-RNTI. In some
embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a type 1 configured grant
transmission. In some embodiments, the PUSCH is associated with a
type 2 configured grant transmission. In some embodiments,
receiving the PUSCH-Config IE comprises the WD receiving a
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which is used to configure dedicated
parameters of an uplink Bandwidth Part, BWP, wherein the
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE includes the PUSCH-Config IE. In some
embodiments, the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE further includes a
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
[0079] And the process 1650 performed by the base station includes:
the base station transmitting to a WD a PUSCH-Config IE (step
s1652), wherein the PUSCH-Config IE includes a first set of PUSCH
configuration parameters, wherein the first set of PUSCH
configuration parameters includes at least one of the following:
txConfig, maxRank, or codebookSubset. The process 1650 also
includes the base station instructing or configuring the WD to
perform a configured grant (CG) transmission on the PUSCH using the
first set of parameters (step s1654). In some embodiments, process
1650 also includes the base station using the first set of
parameters to detect the CG transmission performed by the WD (step
s1656). In some embodiments, the process 1650 also includes the
base station transmitting to the WD a ConfiguredGrantConfig IE. In
some embodiments, the base station instructs or configures the WD
to use a second set of PUSCH configuration parameters according to
the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to perform the CG transmission on the
PUSCH. In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is associated
with a CS-RNTI. In some embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is
associated with a type 1 configured grant transmission. In other
embodiments, the PUSCH transmission is associated with a type 2
configured grant transmission. In some embodiments, transmitting
the PUSCH-Config IE comprises the base station transmitting a
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which is used to configure dedicated
parameters of an uplink Bandwidth Part, BWP, wherein the
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE includes the PUSCH-Config IE. In some
embodiments, the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE further includes a
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
[0080] The configured grant can use DCI 0_1 for activation, which
DCI can have an ambiguity. DCI format 0_0, which is used for
deactivation of UL configured grant, does not have the ambiguity
problem because FDRA, TDRA and FH are fixed sized in DCI 0_0.
[0081] II. DCI ambiguity
[0082] II.A. UE DCI detection effort
[0083] II.A.i. DCI Detection order
[0084] If the UE is not expected to be scheduled with a
retransmission grant using CRC scrambled by CS-RNTI with DCI
content that matches an activation command no ambiguity exists.
[0085] The following process 100 (see FIG. 1) can be implemented in
the UE to ensure no ambiguity. Process 100 may begin with step
s101.
[0086] Step s101 comprises the UE performing DCI (PDCCH) reception
assuming the PDCCH is for activation.
[0087] In step s102, the UE then determines whether the content of
the PDCCH matches an activation command. For example, as explained
above, if the PDCCH is for activation, then the bits for HARQ
process number and Redundancy version will be all zero. Thus, the
UE can check these bits to determine whether the PDCCH matches an
activation command. If the UE determines that the content of the
PDCCH matches an activation command, then the UE performs step
s104, otherwise it proceeds to step s108.
[0088] In step s104, the UE checks a particular field (e.g.,
particular bit) in the PDCCH (e.g., the bit that is in the position
of the NDI field for an activation command) to determine whether
the field is set to a value of 0. If the UE determines that the
field is 0, then the UE performs step s106, otherwise performs step
s108.
[0089] In step s106, as a result of determining that the field is
0, then the UE assumes that PDCCH is indeed for the corresponding
purpose (i.e., activation), and not a PDCCH scheduling a
retransmission. That is, the UE treats the PDCCH as an activation
command.
[0090] In step s108, the UE checks a particular field in the PDCCH
(e.g., the bit that is in the position of the NDI field for a
retransmission grant) to determine whether the field is set to a
value of 1. If the UE determines that the field is 1, then the UE
performs step s110, otherwise the process ends and the UE may
ignore the PDCCH. In step s110, as a result of determining that the
bit is 1, the UE decodes the PDCCH as a retransmission grant.
[0091] In some embodiments, the UE skips step s108, i.e. the UE
assumes that the PDCCH is a retransmission grant if it doesn't
match an activation command and does not check the value of the bit
in the position where the NDI field would be if the PDCCH content
is a retransmission grant.
[0092] In one embodiment, the following change is made to TS
38.321
TABLE-US-00008 1> else if an uplink grant for this PDCCH
occasion has been received for this Serving Cell on the PDCCH for
the MAC entity's CS-RNTI: 2> if the NDI bit follows activation
or deactivation DCI in the received HARQ information is 0: 3> if
PDCCH contents indicate configured grant Type 2 deactivation: 4>
trigger configured uplink grant confirmation. 3> else if PDCCH
contents indicate configured grant Type 2 activation: 4> trigger
configured uplink grant confirmation; 4> store the uplink grant
for this Serving Cell and the associated HARQ information as
configured uplink grant; 4> initialise or re-initialise the
configured uplink grant for this Serving Cell to start in the
associated PUSCH duration and to recur according to rules in
subclause 5.8.2; 4> set the HARQ Process ID to the HARQ Process
ID associated with this PUSCH duration; 4> consider the NDI bit
for the corresponding HARQ process to have been toggled; 4> stop
the configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
running; 4> deliver the configured uplink grant and the
associated HARQ information to the HARQ entity. 3> else if the
PDCCH content is not valid for activation or deactivation: 4> if
the NDI bit follows retransmission DCI in the received HARQ
information is 1: 5> consider the NDI for the corresponding HARQ
process not to have been toggled; 5> start or restart the
configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
configured; 5> deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQ
information to the HARQ entity.
[0093] II.A.ii. Detection Priority
[0094] In this embodiment, shown in FIG. 2, the UE performs in
parallel decoding of the PDCCH for both the activation command and
the retransmission grant. For example, assuming that a) the UE
successfully decoded the PDCCH as a retransmission grant (step
s202) (i.e., decoding as retransmission grant has passed a CRC
check and the NDI bit for retransmission grant is 1) and b) the UE
successfully decoded the PDCCH as an activation command (step s204)
(i.e., decoding as activation has passed a CRC check, the NDI field
is 0, and the validation check is valid), then the UE can choose
based on priority (step s206) whether to treat the PDCCH as a
retransmission grant (step s208) or as an activation command (step
s210). In FIG. 2, p1 represents the priority of retransmission
grant and p2 represents the priority of activation command.
[0095] In one embodiment, a detection of valid activate grant has
higher priority than retransmission grant and thus, in the above
scenario, the UE will chose to treat the PDCCH as an activation
command. On possible implementation of this embodiment is
illustrated in FIG. 3 which is a flow chart showing steps performed
by the UE. Step s302 and step s304 are performed in parallel. In
s302, UE sets a first flag (f2) to a value of 1 if decoding as
retransmission grant has passed a CRC check and the NDI bit for
retransmission grant is 1. In s304, UE set a second flag (f2) to a
value of 1 if decoding as activation has passed a CRC check, the
NDI field is 0, and the validation check is valid. In step s306, UE
determines whether f2=1. If f2=1, then the UE treats the PDCCH as
an activation command (step s 308). If f2=0, then UE determines
whether f1=1 (step s310). If f1=1, then the UE treats the PDCCH as
a retransmission grant (step s312). This illustrates how activation
is given priority over retransmission grant.
[0096] II.B. Base Station (e.g., gNB) implementation
[0097] The confusion between the two DCI functions only occur
if:
(i) the DCI is of format 0_1, (ii) the NDI field is not aligned
between the two functions associated with CSI--i.e., 1)
DCI_dynamic: DCI for scheduling retransmission of a TB of Type 2 UL
configured grant and 2) DCI_UL_GF: DCI for activation of the Type 2
UL configured grant; and (iii) the fields used for validation of
activation happen to satisfy the criteria of validation. The GF in
DCI_UL_GF stands for "grant free," another name for configured
grant.
[0098] There are 3 fields in DCI format 0_1 that are ahead of NDI,
and can have different sizes between DCI_dynamic and DCI_UL_GF.
These three fields are: (1) Frequency domain resource assignment
(FDRA), (2) Time domain resource assignment (TDRA), and (3)
Frequency hopping flag (FH).
[0099] If the total length of the 3 fields are not the same between
the two DCI functions, then, when DCI (of format 0_1) is sent for
scheduling retransmission of configured grant, the base station
implementation needs to ensure the following condition does not
occur: the "fake" NDI field has a value of 0 and the "fake" fields
used for validation of activation satisfy the criteria of
validation. In the above, the "fake" fields are according to the
interpretation that the DCI is for activation, and the FDRA, TDRA,
and FH field sizes are determined according to RRC configuration of
UL configured grant (i.e., not configuration of dynamic PUSCH). In
other words, when DCI (of format 0_1) is sent for scheduling
retransmission of configured grant, the base station implementation
needs to ensure that if a UE decodes the DCI under the assumption
that the DCI is an activation command the UE does not determine
that the DCI is valid activation command. This feature is
illustrated in FIG. 5 which is a flowchart illustrating a process
performed by the base station. The process may begin in step s502,
where the base station decides to transmit to a UE a DCI configured
for a retransmission grant. In step s504, the base station ensures
that if a UE decodes the DCI configured for the retransmission
grant under the assumption that the DCI is an activation command
the UE will not determine that the DCI is a valid activation
command. In step s506, the base station transmits the DCI.
[0100] II.C. Alignment of DCI field sizes
[0101] An alternative method to avoid ambiguity is to ensure that
the total length of the sizes of the following three fields do not
change between the two DCI functions: (1) Frequency domain resource
assignment (FDRA), (2) Time domain resource assignment (TDRA), and
(3) Frequency hopping flag (FH). This can be achieved by the
following methods.
[0102] Method (A): for both DCI_Dynamic and DCI_UL_GF of format 0_1
use non-varying size, similar to that of DCI format 0_0.
[0103] Method (B): for both DCI_Dynamic and DCI_UL_GF of format 0_1
use FDRA, TDRA, and FH configuration according to higher layer
configuration ConfiguredGrantConfig.
[0104] Method (C): for both DCI_Dynamic and DCI_UL_GF of format 0_1
use FDRA, TDRA, and FH configuration according to higher layer
configuration PUSCH-Config. Furthermore, considering the DCI blind
decoding burden of UE, it is desirable to align overall size of
DCI_dynamic and DCI_UL_GF for format 0_1.
[0105] Although the subject matter described herein may be
implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable
components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in
relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless
network illustrated in FIG. 6. For simplicity, the wireless network
of FIG. 6 only depicts network 606, network nodes 660 and 660b, and
WDs 610, 610b, and 610c. In practice, a wireless network may
further include any additional elements suitable to support
communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device
(e.g., a UE) and another communication device, such as a landline
telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end
device. Of the illustrated components, network node 660 and
wireless device (WD) 610 are depicted with additional detail. The
wireless network may provide communication and other types of
services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless
devices' access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via,
the wireless network.
[0106] The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any
type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or
radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments,
the wireless network may be configured to operate according to
specific standards or other types of predefined rules or
procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network
may implement communication standards, such as Global System for
Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G,
3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN)
standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other
appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave
and/or ZigBee standards.
[0107] Network 606 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core
networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs),
packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs),
local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs),
wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and
other networks to enable communication between devices.
[0108] Network node 660 and WD 610 comprise various components
described in more detail below. These components work together in
order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality,
such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In
different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number
of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations,
controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other
components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the
communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless
connections.
[0109] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable,
configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or
indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes
or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide
wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other
functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples
of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points
(APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio
base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs
(gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of
coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power
level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations,
pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A
base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling
a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts
of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital
units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as
Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not
be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts
of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as
nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples
of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such
as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers
(RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver
stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes,
multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network
nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes,
positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example,
a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more
detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent
any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured,
arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless
device with access to the wireless network or to provide some
service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless
network.
[0110] In FIG. 6, network node 660 includes processing circuitry
670, device readable medium 680, interface 690, auxiliary equipment
684, power source 686, power circuitry 687, and antenna 662.
Although network node 660 illustrated in the example wireless
network of FIG. 6 may represent a device that includes the
illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments
may comprise network nodes with different combinations of
components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises
any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to
perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed
herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 660 are
depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested
within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise
multiple different physical components that make up a single
illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 680 may
comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM
modules).
[0111] Similarly, network node 660 may be composed of multiple
physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC
component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may
each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in
which network node 660 comprises multiple separate components
(e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate
components may be shared among several network nodes. For example,
a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's. In such a scenario, each
unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a
single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 660
may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies
(RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated
(e.g., separate device readable medium 680 for the different RATs)
and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 662 may
be shared by the RATs). Network node 660 may also include multiple
sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless
technologies integrated into network node 660, such as, for
example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless
technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into
the same or different chip or set of chips and other components
within network node 660.
[0112] Processing circuitry 670 is configured to perform any
determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain
obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a
network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry
670 may include processing information obtained by processing
circuitry 670 by, for example, converting the obtained information
into other information, comparing the obtained information or
converted information to information stored in the network node,
and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained
information or converted information, and as a result of said
processing making a determination.
[0113] Processing circuitry 670 may comprise a combination of one
or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central
processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific
integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other
suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware,
software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or
in conjunction with other network node 660 components, such as
device readable medium 680, network node 660 functionality. For
example, processing circuitry 670 may execute instructions stored
in device readable medium 680 or in memory within processing
circuitry 670. Such functionality may include providing any of the
various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein.
In some embodiments, processing circuitry 670 may include a system
on a chip (SOC).
[0114] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 670 may include
one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 672 and
baseband processing circuitry 674. In some embodiments, radio
frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 672 and baseband processing
circuitry 674 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards,
or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative
embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 672 and
baseband processing circuitry 674 may be on the same chip or set of
chips, boards, or units
[0115] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality
described herein as being provided by a network node, base station,
eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing
circuitry 670 executing instructions stored on device readable
medium 680 or memory within processing circuitry 670. In
alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be
provided by processing circuitry 670 without executing instructions
stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in
a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing
instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not,
processing circuitry 670 can be configured to perform the described
functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not
limited to processing circuitry 670 alone or to other components of
network node 660, but are enjoyed by network node 660 as a whole,
and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
[0116] Device readable medium 680 may comprise any form of volatile
or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without
limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely
mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory
(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a
hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a
Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other
volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or
computer-executable memory devices that store information, data,
and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 670.
Device readable medium 680 may store any suitable instructions,
data or information, including a computer program, software, an
application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables,
etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by
processing circuitry 670 and, utilized by network node 660. Device
readable medium 680 may be used to store any calculations made by
processing circuitry 670 and/or any data received via interface
690. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 670 and device
readable medium 680 may be considered to be integrated.
[0117] Interface 690 is used in the wired or wireless communication
of signaling and/or data between network node 660, network 606,
and/or WDs 610. As illustrated, interface 690 comprises
port(s)/terminal(s) 694 to send and receive data, for example to
and from network 606 over a wired connection. Interface 690 also
includes radio front end circuitry 692 that may be coupled to, or
in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 662. Radio front end
circuitry 692 comprises filters 698 and amplifiers 696. Radio front
end circuitry 692 may be connected to antenna 662 and processing
circuitry 670. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to
condition signals communicated between antenna 662 and processing
circuitry 670. Radio front end circuitry 692 may receive digital
data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a
wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 692 may convert the
digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and
bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 698 and/or
amplifiers 696. The radio signal may then be transmitted via
antenna 662. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 662 may
collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by
radio front end circuitry 692. The digital data may be passed to
processing circuitry 670. In other embodiments, the interface may
comprise different components and/or different combinations of
components.
[0118] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 660 may not
include separate radio front end circuitry 692, instead, processing
circuitry 670 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be
connected to antenna 662 without separate radio front end circuitry
692. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver
circuitry 672 may be considered a part of interface 690. In still
other embodiments, interface 690 may include one or more ports or
terminals 694, radio front end circuitry 692, and RF transceiver
circuitry 672, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface
690 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 674, which
is part of a digital unit (not shown).
[0119] Antenna 662 may include one or more antennas, or antenna
arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna
662 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 690 and may be any
type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or
signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 662 may comprise
one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to
transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66
GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive
radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to
transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular
area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to
transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In
some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to
as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 662 may be separate from
network node 660 and may be connectable to network node 660 through
an interface or port.
[0120] Antenna 662, interface 690, and/or processing circuitry 670
may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or
certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by
a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be
received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any
other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 662, interface 690,
and/or processing circuitry 670 may be configured to perform any
transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a
network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be
transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any
other network equipment.
[0121] Power circuitry 687 may comprise, or be coupled to, power
management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of
network node 660 with power for performing the functionality
described herein. Power circuitry 687 may receive power from power
source 686. Power source 686 and/or power circuitry 687 may be
configured to provide power to the various components of network
node 660 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at
a voltage and current level needed for each respective component).
Power source 686 may either be included in, or external to, power
circuitry 687 and/or network node 660. For example, network node
660 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an
electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an
electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power
to power circuitry 687. As a further example, power source 686 may
comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack
which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 687. The
battery may provide backup power should the external power source
fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices,
may also be used.
[0122] Alternative embodiments of network node 660 may include
additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 6 that may be
responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's
functionality, including any of the functionality described herein
and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter
described herein. For example, network node 660 may include user
interface equipment to allow input of information into network node
660 and to allow output of information from network node 660. This
may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and
other administrative functions for network node 660.
[0123] As used herein, the terms wireless device (WD) and user
equipment (UE) both refer to a device capable, configured, arranged
and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or
other wireless devices. Accordingly, unless otherwise noted, the
term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment
(UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or
receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio
waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for
conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be
configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct
human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit
information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when
triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to
requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not
limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice
over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop
computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a
gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback
appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a
mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment
(LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless
customer-premise equipment (CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless
terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D)
communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for
sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),
vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and
may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As
yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT)
scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that
performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results
of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a
network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M)
device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC
device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing
the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard.
Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors,
metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or
home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.)
personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In
other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment
that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational
status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as
described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless
connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a
wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be
mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device
or a mobile terminal.
[0124] As illustrated, wireless device 610 includes antenna 611,
interface 614, processing circuitry 620, device readable medium
630, user interface equipment 632, auxiliary equipment 634, power
source 636 and power circuitry 637. WD 610 may include multiple
sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different
wireless technologies supported by WD 610, such as, for example,
GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless
technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies
may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips
as other components within WD 610.
[0125] Antenna 611 may include one or more antennas or antenna
arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is
connected to interface 614. In certain alternative embodiments,
antenna 611 may be separate from WD 610 and be connectable to WD
610 through an interface or port. Antenna 611, interface 614,
and/or processing circuitry 620 may be configured to perform any
receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being
performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be
received from a network node and/or another WD. In some
embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 611 may be
considered an interface.
[0126] As illustrated, interface 614 comprises radio front end
circuitry 612 and antenna 611. Radio front end circuitry 612
comprise one or more filters 618 and amplifiers 616. Radio front
end circuitry 614 is connected to antenna 611 and processing
circuitry 620, and is configured to condition signals communicated
between antenna 611 and processing circuitry 620. Radio front end
circuitry 612 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 611. In some
embodiments, WD 610 may not include separate radio front end
circuitry 612; rather, processing circuitry 620 may comprise radio
front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 611. Similarly,
in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 622
may be considered a part of interface 614. Radio front end
circuitry 612 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to
other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front
end circuitry 612 may convert the digital data into a radio signal
having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a
combination of filters 618 and/or amplifiers 616. The radio signal
may then be transmitted via antenna 611. Similarly, when receiving
data, antenna 611 may collect radio signals which are then
converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 612. The
digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 620. In other
embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or
different combinations of components.
[0127] Processing circuitry 620 may comprise a combination of one
or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central
processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific
integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other
suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware,
software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or
in conjunction with other WD 610 components, such as device
readable medium 630, WD 610 functionality. Such functionality may
include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits
discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 620 may execute
instructions stored in device readable medium 630 or in memory
within processing circuitry 620 to provide the functionality
disclosed herein.
[0128] As illustrated, processing circuitry 620 includes one or
more of RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband processing circuitry
624, and application processing circuitry 626. In other
embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different
components and/or different combinations of components. In certain
embodiments processing circuitry 620 of WD 610 may comprise a SOC.
In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband
processing circuitry 624, and application processing circuitry 626
may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative
embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 624 and
application processing circuitry 626 may be combined into one chip
or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 622 may be on a
separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments,
part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 622 and baseband processing
circuitry 624 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and
application processing circuitry 626 may be on a separate chip or
set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of
RF transceiver circuitry 622, baseband processing circuitry 624,
and application processing circuitry 626 may be combined in the
same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver
circuitry 622 may be a part of interface 614. RF transceiver
circuitry 622 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry
620.
[0129] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality
described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by
processing circuitry 620 executing instructions stored on device
readable medium 630, which in certain embodiments may be a
computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some
or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry
620 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete
device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In
any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions
stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing
circuitry 620 can be configured to perform the described
functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not
limited to processing circuitry 620 alone or to other components of
WD 610, but are enjoyed by WD 610 as a whole, and/or by end users
and the wireless network generally.
[0130] Processing circuitry 620 may be configured to perform any
determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain
obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD.
These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 620, may
include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 620
by, for example, converting the obtained information into other
information, comparing the obtained information or converted
information to information stored by WD 610, and/or performing one
or more operations based on the obtained information or converted
information, and as a result of said processing making a
determination.
[0131] Device readable medium 630 may be operable to store a
computer program, software, an application including one or more of
logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable
of being executed by processing circuitry 620. Device readable
medium 630 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory
(RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard
disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a
Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or
non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer
executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or
instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 620. In some
embodiments, processing circuitry 620 and device readable medium
630 may be considered to be integrated.
[0132] User interface equipment 632 may provide components that
allow for a human user to interact with WD 610. Such interaction
may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User
interface equipment 632 may be operable to produce output to the
user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 610. The type of
interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface
equipment 632 installed in WD 610. For example, if WD 610 is a
smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 610
is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that
provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that
provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User
interface equipment 632 may include input interfaces, devices and
circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User
interface equipment 632 is configured to allow input of information
into WD 610, and is connected to processing circuitry 620 to allow
processing circuitry 620 to process the input information. User
interface equipment 632 may include, for example, a microphone, a
proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or
more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface
equipment 632 is also configured to allow output of information
from WD 610, and to allow processing circuitry 620 to output
information from WD 610. User interface equipment 632 may include,
for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port,
a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more
input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user
interface equipment 632, WD 610 may communicate with end users
and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the
functionality described herein.
[0133] Auxiliary equipment 634 is operable to provide more specific
functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may
comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various
purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as
wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of
auxiliary equipment 634 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or
scenario.
[0134] Power source 636 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of
a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an
external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic
devices or power cells, may also be used. WD 610 may further
comprise power circuitry 637 for delivering power from power source
636 to the various parts of WD 610 which need power from power
source 636 to carry out any functionality described or indicated
herein. Power circuitry 637 may in certain embodiments comprise
power management circuitry. Power circuitry 637 may additionally or
alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power
source; in which case WD 610 may be connectable to the external
power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or
an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 637
may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from
an external power source to power source 636. This may be, for
example, for the charging of power source 636. Power circuitry 637
may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to
the power from power source 636 to make the power suitable for the
respective components of WD 610 to which power is supplied.
[0135] FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with
various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment
or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user
who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may
represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a
human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be
associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler
controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not
intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be
associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a
smart power meter). UE 7200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a
machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC)
UE. UE 700, as illustrated in FIG. 7, is one example of a WD
configured for communication in accordance with one or more
communication standards promulgated by the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or
5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be
used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG. 7 is a UE, the
components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and
vice-versa.
[0136] In FIG. 7, UE 700 includes processing circuitry 701 that is
operatively coupled to input/output interface 705, radio frequency
(RF) interface 709, network connection interface 711, memory 715
including random access memory (RAM) 717, read-only memory (ROM)
719, and storage medium 721 or the like, communication subsystem
731, power source 733, and/or any other component, or any
combination thereof. Storage medium 721 includes operating system
723, application program 725, and data 727. In other embodiments,
storage medium 721 may include other similar types of information.
Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 7, or
only a subset of the components. The level of integration between
the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain
UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple
processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers,
etc.
[0137] In FIG. 7, processing circuitry 701 may be configured to
process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 701
may be configured to implement any sequential state machine
operative to execute machine instructions stored as
machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or
more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic,
FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate
firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors,
such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP),
together with appropriate software; or any combination of the
above. For example, the processing circuitry 701 may include two
central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form
suitable for use by a computer.
[0138] In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 705 may
be configured to provide a communication interface to an input
device, output device, or input and output device. UE 700 may be
configured to use an output device via input/output interface 705.
An output device may use the same type of interface port as an
input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input
to and output from UE 700. The output device may be a speaker, a
sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an
actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any
combination thereof. UE 700 may be configured to use an input
device via input/output interface 705 to allow a user to capture
information into UE 700. The input device may include a
touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a
digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a
microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a
trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The
presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive
touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for
instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force
sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor,
another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the
input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital
camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.
[0139] In FIG. 7, RF interface 709 may be configured to provide a
communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a
receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 711 may be
configured to provide a communication interface to network 743a.
Network 743a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a
local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer
network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another
like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 743a
may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 711 may
be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface
used to communicate with one or more other devices over a
communication network according to one or more communication
protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like.
Network connection interface 711 may implement receiver and
transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network
links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter
and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or
firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.
[0140] RAM 717 may be configured to interface via bus 702 to
processing circuitry 701 to provide storage or caching of data or
computer instructions during the execution of software programs
such as the operating system, application programs, and device
drivers. ROM 719 may be configured to provide computer instructions
or data to processing circuitry 701. For example, ROM 719 may be
configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for
basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O),
startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored
in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 721 may be configured to
include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory
(PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),
electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),
magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable
cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 721 may
be configured to include operating system 723, application program
725 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or
another application, and data file 727. Storage medium 721 may
store, for use by UE 700, any of a variety of various operating
systems or combinations of operating systems.
[0141] Storage medium 721 may be configured to include a number of
physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks
(RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external
hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density
digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard
disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data
storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line
memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory
(SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a
subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM)
module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium
721 may allow UE 700 to access computer-executable instructions,
application programs or the like, stored on transitory or
non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data.
An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication
system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 721, which may
comprise a device readable medium.
[0142] In FIG. 7, processing circuitry 701 may be configured to
communicate with network 743b using communication subsystem 731.
Network 743a and network 743b may be the same network or networks
or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 731 may
be configured to include one or more transceivers used to
communicate with network 743b. For example, communication subsystem
731 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to
communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device
capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base
station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more
communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.7, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE,
UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter
733 and/or receiver 735 to implement transmitter or receiver
functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g.,
frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 733 and
receiver 735 of each transceiver may share circuit components,
software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented
separately.
[0143] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions
of communication subsystem 731 may include data communication,
voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range
communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication,
location-based communication such as the use of the global
positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like
communication function, or any combination thereof. For example,
communication subsystem 731 may include cellular communication,
Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS
communication. Network 743b may encompass wired and/or wireless
networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network
(WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications
network, another like network or any combination thereof. For
example, network 743b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network,
and/or a near-field network. Power source 713 may be configured to
provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to
components of UE 700.
[0144] The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may
be implemented in one of the components of UE 700 or partitioned
across multiple components of UE 700. Further, the features,
benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in
any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example,
communication subsystem 731 may be configured to include any of the
components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 701 may
be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus
702. In another example, any of such components may be represented
by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by
processing circuitry 701 perform the corresponding functions
described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of
such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 701
and communication subsystem 731. In another example, the
non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components
may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally
intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
[0145] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a
virtualization environment 800 in which functions implemented by
some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context,
virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or
devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage
devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization
can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a
virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a
wireless device or any other type of communication device) or
components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at
least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more
virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components,
functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more
physical processing nodes in one or more networks).
[0146] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described
herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or
more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual
environments 800 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 830.
Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio
access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core
network node), then the network node may be entirely
virtualized.
[0147] The functions may be implemented by one or more applications
820 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual
appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network
functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features,
functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed
herein. Applications 820 are run in virtualization environment 800
which provides hardware 830 comprising processing circuitry 860 and
memory 890. Memory 890 contains instructions 895 executable by
processing circuitry 860 whereby application 820 is operative to
provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions
disclosed herein.
[0148] Virtualization environment 800, comprises general-purpose or
special-purpose network hardware devices 830 comprising a set of
one or more processors or processing circuitry 860, which may be
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application
Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of
processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware
components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may
comprise memory 890-1 which may be non-persistent memory for
temporarily storing instructions 895 or software executed by
processing circuitry 860. Each hardware device may comprise one or
more network interface controllers (NICs) 870, also known as
network interface cards, which include physical network interface
880. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,
persistent, machine-readable storage media 890-2 having stored
therein software 895 and/or instructions executable by processing
circuitry 860. Software 895 may include any type of software
including software for instantiating one or more virtualization
layers 850 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute
virtual machines 840 as well as software allowing it to execute
functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some
embodiments described herein.
[0149] Virtual machines 840, comprise virtual processing, virtual
memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and
may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 850 or
hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual
appliance 820 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines
840, and the implementations may be made in different ways.
[0150] During operation, processing circuitry 860 executes software
895 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 850,
which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor
(VMM). Virtualization layer 850 may present a virtual operating
platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine
840.
[0151] As shown in FIG. 8, hardware 830 may be a standalone network
node with generic or specific components. Hardware 830 may comprise
antenna 8225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.
Alternatively, hardware 830 may be part of a larger cluster of
hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise
equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are
managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 8100, which, among
others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 820.
[0152] Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred
to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to
consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard
high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical
storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise
equipment.
[0153] In the context of NFV, virtual machine 840 may be a software
implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they
were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of
virtual machines 840, and that part of hardware 830 that executes
that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual
machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others
of the virtual machines 840, forms a separate virtual network
elements (VNE).
[0154] Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF)
is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in
one or more virtual machines 840 on top of hardware networking
infrastructure 830 and corresponds to application 820 in FIG.
8.
[0155] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 8200 that each
include one or more transmitters 8220 and one or more receivers
8210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 8225. Radio units 8200
may communicate directly with hardware nodes 830 via one or more
appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with
the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio
capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.
[0156] In some embodiments, some signaling can be effected with the
use of control system 8230 which may alternatively be used for
communication between the hardware nodes 830 and radio units
8200.
[0157] With reference to FIG. 9, a communication system in
accordance with an embodiment is shown. The illustrated
communication system includes telecommunication network 910, such
as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network
911, such as a radio access network, and core network 914. Access
network 911 comprises a plurality of base stations 912a, 912b,
912c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access
points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 913a, 913b,
913c. Each base station 912a, 912b, 912c is connectable to core
network 914 over a wired or wireless connection 915. A first UE 991
located in coverage area 913c is configured to wirelessly connect
to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 912c. A second
UE 992 in coverage area 913a is wirelessly connectable to the
corresponding base station 912a. While a plurality of UEs 991, 992
are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are
equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the
coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding
base station 912.
[0158] Telecommunication network 910 is itself connected to host
computer 930, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software
of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed
server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer
930 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or
may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service
provider. Connections 921 and 922 between telecommunication network
910 and host computer 930 may extend directly from core network 914
to host computer 930 or may go via an optional intermediate network
920. Intermediate network 920 may be one of, or a combination of
more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate
network 920, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in
particular, intermediate network 920 may comprise two or more
sub-networks (not shown).
[0159] The communication system of FIG. 9 as a whole enables
connectivity between the connected UEs 991, 992 and host computer
930. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT)
connection 950. Host computer 930 and the connected UEs 991, 992
are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT
connection 950, using access network 911, core network 914, any
intermediate network 920 and possible further infrastructure (not
shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 950 may be transparent in
the sense that the participating communication devices through
which OTT connection 950 passes are unaware of routing of uplink
and downlink communications. For example, base station 912 may not
or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming
downlink communication with data originating from host computer 930
to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 991.
Similarly, base station 912 need not be aware of the future routing
of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 991
towards the host computer 930.
[0160] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment,
of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the
preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG.
10. In communication system 1000, host computer 1010 comprises
hardware 1015 including communication interface 1016 configured to
set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an
interface of a different communication device of communication
system 1000. Host computer 1010 further comprises processing
circuitry 1018, which may have storage and/or processing
capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 1018 may comprise
one or more programmable processors, application-specific
integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations
of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer
1010 further comprises software 1011, which is stored in or
accessible by host computer 1010 and executable by processing
circuitry 1018. Software 1011 includes host application 1012. Host
application 1012 may be operable to provide a service to a remote
user, such as UE 1030 connecting via OTT connection 1050
terminating at UE 1030 and host computer 1010. In providing the
service to the remote user, host application 1012 may provide user
data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1050.
[0161] Communication system 1000 further includes base station 1020
provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1025
enabling it to communicate with host computer 1010 and with UE
1030. Hardware 1025 may include communication interface 1026 for
setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an
interface of a different communication device of communication
system 1000, as well as radio interface 1027 for setting up and
maintaining at least wireless connection 1070 with UE 1030 located
in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 10) served by base station
1020. Communication interface 1026 may be configured to facilitate
connection 1060 to host computer 1010. Connection 1060 may be
direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 10)
of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more
intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the
embodiment shown, hardware 1025 of base station 1020 further
includes processing circuitry 1028, which may comprise one or more
programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits,
field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)
adapted to execute instructions. Base station 1020 further has
software 1021 stored internally or accessible via an external
connection.
[0162] Communication system 1000 further includes UE 1030 already
referred to. Its hardware 1035 may include radio interface 1037
configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1070 with a
base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1030 is currently
located. Hardware 1035 of UE 1030 further includes processing
circuitry 1038, which may comprise one or more programmable
processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field
programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown)
adapted to execute instructions. UE 1030 further comprises software
1031, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1030 and executable by
processing circuitry 1038. Software 1031 includes client
application 1032. Client application 1032 may be operable to
provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1030, with
the support of host computer 1010. In host computer 1010, an
executing host application 1012 may communicate with the executing
client application 1032 via OTT connection 1050 terminating at UE
1030 and host computer 1010. In providing the service to the user,
client application 1032 may receive request data from host
application 1012 and provide user data in response to the request
data. OTT connection 1050 may transfer both the request data and
the user data. Client application 1032 may interact with the user
to generate the user data that it provides.
[0163] It is noted that host computer 1010, base station 1020 and
UE 1030 illustrated in FIG. 10 may be similar or identical to host
computer 930, one of base stations 912a, 912b, 912c and one of UEs
991, 992 of FIG. 9, respectively. This is to say, the inner
workings of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 10 and
independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG.
9.
[0164] In FIG. 10, OTT connection 1050 has been drawn abstractly to
illustrate the communication between host computer 1010 and UE 1030
via base station 1020, without explicit reference to any
intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these
devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it
may be configured to hide from UE 1030 or from the service provider
operating host computer 1010, or both. While OTT connection 1050 is
active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by
which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of
load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the
network).
[0165] Wireless connection 1070 between UE 1030 and base station
1020 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments
described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various
embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE
1030 using OTT connection 1050, in which wireless connection 1070
forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of DCI
ambiguity embodiments reduce false detections (e.g., reduce
likelihood that a UE will wrongly interpret a DCI 01), thereby
improving performance by decreasing latency and increasing spectrum
efficiency, which can lead to higher data rates and longer battery
life. Additionally, by including the RRC parameters txConfig,
maxRank and codebookSubset in the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE, higher
spectrum efficiency and low latency get achieved with supporting
multiple layer transmissions for Configured Grant.
[0166] A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of
monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or
more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network
functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1050 between host
computer 1010 and UE 1030, in response to variations in the
measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network
functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1050 may be
implemented in software 1011 and hardware 1015 of host computer
1010 or in software 1031 and hardware 1035 of UE 1030, or both. In
embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in
association with communication devices through which OTT connection
1050 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement
procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities
exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities
from which software 1011, 1031 may compute or estimate the
monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1050 may
include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing
etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1020, and it
may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1020. Such
procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the
art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary
UE signaling facilitating host computer 1010's measurements of
throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The
measurements may be implemented in that software 1011 and 1031
causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or `dummy`
messages, using OTT connection 1050 while it monitors propagation
times, errors etc.
[0167] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 11 will be included in this section. In step 1110, the host
computer provides user data. In substep 1111 (which may be
optional) of step 1110, the host computer provides the user data by
executing a host application. In step 1120, the host computer
initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step
1130 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE
the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host
computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the
embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1140
(which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application
associated with the host application executed by the host
computer.
[0168] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 12 will be included in this section. In step 1210 of the
method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional
substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by
executing a host application. In step 1220, the host computer
initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The
transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the
teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
In step 1230 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data
carried in the transmission.
[0169] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 13 will be included in this section. In step 1310 (which
may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host
computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1320, the UE
provides user data. In substep 1321 (which may be optional) of step
1320, the UE provides the user data by executing a client
application. In substep 1311 (which may be optional) of step 1310,
the UE executes a client application which provides the user data
in reaction to the received input data provided by the host
computer. In providing the user data, the executed client
application may further consider user input received from the user.
Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was
provided, the UE initiates, in substep 1330 (which may be
optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In
step 1340 of the method, the host computer receives the user data
transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the
embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
[0170] FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in
a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The
communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a
UE which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references
to FIG. 14 will be included in this section. In step 1410 (which
may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the
embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station
receives user data from the UE. In step 1420 (which may be
optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received
user data to the host computer. In step 1430 (which may be
optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the
transmission initiated by the base station.
[0171] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or
benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more
functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses.
Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional
units. These functional units may be implemented via processing
circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or
microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may
include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital
logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to
execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or
several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),
random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices,
optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory
includes program instructions for executing one or more
telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as
instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques
described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry
may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform
corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the
present disclosure.
[0172] FIG. 15A illustrates a schematic block diagram of network
node 660 according to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 15A,
network node 660 includes a deciding unit 1502, an IE generating
unit 1504, and a transmitting unit 1506 for performing steps 502,
504, and 506, respectively.
[0173] FIG. 15B illustrates a schematic block diagram of wireless
device 610 according to an embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 15B,
wireless device 610 includes: a DCI reception unit 1512 for
performing DCI (PDCCH) reception assuming the PDCCH is for
activation and for determining whether the content of the PDCCH
matches an activation command; a field checking unit 1514 for
checking a particular field in the PDCCH (e.g., the bit that is in
the position of the NDI field for a activation command) to
determine whether the field is set to a value of 0; and a first
PDCCH unit 1516 for treating the PDCCH as an activation command as
a result of the DCI reception unit determining that the content of
the PDCCH matches an activation command and the checking unit 1514
determines that the field is set to a value of 0.
[0174] The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of
electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may
include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry,
devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or
discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying
out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or
displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are
described herein.
Concise Description of Various Embodiments
UE Embodiments
[0175] A1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method
comprising at least one of: performing PDCCH reception assuming the
PDCCH (e.g., a received PDCCH scrambled with CS-RNTI) is for
activation and determining whether the content of the PDCCH matches
(or indicates) an activation command; as a result of determining
that the content of the PDCCH matches (or indicates) an activation
command, checking a particular field in the PDCCH (e.g., the bit
that is in the position of the NDI field for a activation command)
to determine whether the field (e.g., bit) is set to a value of 0;
and as a result of determining that that the field is 0, treating
the PDCCH as an activation command
[0176] A2. The method of embodiment A1, further comprising
determining whether the content of the PDCCH indicates configured
grant Type 2 activation; and, optionally, as a result of
determining that the content of the PDCCH indicates configured
grant Type 2 activation, triggering configured uplink grant
confirmation.
[0177] A3. The method of embodiment A2, further comprising: as a
result of determining that the content of the PDCCH s indicates
configured grant Type 2 activation, storing an uplink grant and
associated HARQ information as configured uplink grant and,
optionally, initialising or re-initialising the configured uplink
grant for the Serving Cell to start in an associated PUSCH duration
and, optionally, to recur according to rules.
[0178] A4. A method performed by a wireless device, the method
comprising at least one of: the wireless device successfully
decoding a PDCCH as a retransmission grant; the wireless device
successfully decoding the PDCCH as an activation command; and the
wireless device choosing based on priority whether to treat the
PDCCH as a retransmission grant or as an activation command
[0179] A5. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further
comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a
host computer via a transmission to the base station.
Base Station Embodiments
[0180] B1. A method performed by a base station, the method
comprising at least one of: the base station deciding to configure
a UE for uplink transmission without dynamic grant; as a result of
deciding to configure the UE for uplink transmission without
dynamic grant, the base station generating a ConfiguredGrantConfig
IE, wherein, optionally, the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE includes one
or more of the following RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and
codebookSubset; and the base station transmitting the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE to the UE.
[0181] B2. The method of embodiment B1, wherein transmitting the
ConfiguredGrantConfig IE comprises at least one of the base station
generating a BWP-UplinkDedicated IE, which, optionally, is used to
configure the dedicated (UE specific) parameters of an uplink
Bandwidth Part (BWP); and the base station transmitting to the UE
the BWP-UplinkDedicated IE which, optionally, includes the
generated ConfiguredGrantConfig IE.
[0182] B3. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the
BWP-UplinkDedicated IE further includes a PUSCH-Config IE that,
optionally, contains parameter values for the one or more of RRC
parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset.
[0183] B4. The method of embodiment B3, wherein the parameter
values for the RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset
included in the PUSCH-Config IE are different than the parameter
values for the RRC parameters txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset
included in the ConfiguredGrantconfig IE.
[0184] B5. A method performed by a base station, the method
comprising at least one of: the base station deciding to transmit
to a UE a DCI configured for a retransmission grant; the base
station ensuring that if a UE decodes the DCI configured for the
retransmission grant under the assumption that the DCI is an
activation command the UE will not determine that the DCI is a
valid activation command; and the base station transmitting the
DCI.
[0185] B6. The method of any of the embodiments B1-B5, further
comprising at least one of: obtaining user data; and forwarding the
user data to a host computer or a wireless device.
Group C Embodiments
[0186] C1. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any
of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured
to supply power to the wireless device.
[0187] C2. A base station, the base station comprising: processing
circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the
Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply
power to the wireless device.
[0188] C3. A user equipment (UE) for, the UE comprising: an antenna
configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end
circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and
configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna
and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being
configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A
embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing
circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE
to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface
connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output
information from the UE that has been processed by the processing
circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and
configured to supply power to the UE.
[0189] C4. A communication system including a host computer
comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data;
and a communication interface configured to forward the user data
to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),
wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a
radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station's
processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any
of the Group B embodiments.
[0190] C5. The communication system of the pervious embodiment
further including the base station.
[0191] C6. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,
further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to
communicate with the base station.
[0192] C7. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,
wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is
configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the
user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to
execute a client application associated with the host
application.
[0193] C8. A method implemented in a communication system including
a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the
method comprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and
at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user
data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station,
wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the
Group B embodiments.
[0194] C9. The method of the previous embodiment, further
comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.
[0195] C10. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the
user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host
application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a
client application associated with the host application.
[0196] C11. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a
base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing
circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3
embodiments.
[0197] C12. A communication system including a host computer
comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data;
and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a
cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein
the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the
UE's components configured to perform any of the steps of any of
the Group A embodiments.
[0198] C13. The communication system of the previous embodiment,
wherein the cellular network further includes a base station
configured to communicate with the UE.
[0199] C14. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,
wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is
configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the
user data; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to
execute a client application associated with the host
application.
[0200] C15. A method implemented in a communication system
including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment
(UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, providing user
data; and at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying
the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base
station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the
Group A embodiments.
[0201] C16. The method of the previous embodiment, further
comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the base
station.
[0202] C17. A communication system including a host computer
comprising: communication interface configured to receive user data
originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a
base station, wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and
processing circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to
perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.
[0203] C18. The communication system of the previous embodiment,
further including the UE.
[0204] C19. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,
further including the base station, wherein the base station
comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE
and a communication interface configured to forward to the host
computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the
base station.
[0205] C20. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,
wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is
configured to execute a host application; and the UE's processing
circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated
with the host application, thereby providing the user data.
[0206] C21. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments,
wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is
configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request
data; and the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a
client application associated with the host application, thereby
providing the user data in response to the request data.
[0207] C22. A method implemented in a communication system
including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment
(UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving user
data transmitted to the base station from the UE, wherein the UE
performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.
[0208] C23. The method of the previous embodiment, further
comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base
station.
[0209] C24. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further
comprising: at the UE, executing a client application, thereby
providing the user data to be transmitted; and at the host
computer, executing a host application associated with the client
application.
[0210] C25. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further
comprising: at the UE, executing a client application; and at the
UE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data
being provided at the host computer by executing a host application
associated with the client application, wherein the user data to be
transmitted is provided by the client application in response to
the input data.
[0211] C26. A communication system including a host computer
comprising a communication interface configured to receive user
data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to
a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio
interface and processing circuitry, the base station's processing
circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the
Group B embodiments.
[0212] C27. The communication system of the previous embodiment
further including the base station.
[0213] C28. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,
further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to
communicate with the base station.
[0214] C29. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,
wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is
configured to execute a host application; the UE is configured to
execute a client application associated with the host application,
thereby providing the user data to be received by the host
computer.
[0215] C30. A method implemented in a communication system
including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment
(UE), the method comprising: at the host computer, receiving, from
the base station, user data originating from a transmission which
the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs
any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.
[0216] C31. The method of the previous embodiment, further
comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the
UE.
[0217] C32. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further
comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the
received user data to the host computer.
[0218] While various embodiments of the present disclosure are
described herein, it should be understood that they have been
presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the
breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited
by any of the above described exemplary embodiments. Moreover, any
combination of the above-described elements in all possible
variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless
otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by
context.
[0219] Additionally, while the processes described above and
illustrated in the drawings are shown as a sequence of steps, this
was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is
contemplated that some steps may be added, some steps may be
omitted, the order of the steps may be re-arranged, and some steps
may be performed in parallel.
REFERENCES
[0220] [1] TS 38.212
ABBREVIATIONS
[0221] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in
this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between
abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above.
If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be
preferred over any subsequent listing(s).
[0222] 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
[0223] 5G 5th Generation
[0224] ABS Almost Blank Subframe
[0225] ARQ Automatic Repeat Request
[0226] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
[0227] BCCH Broadcast Control Channel
[0228] BCH Broadcast Channel
[0229] CA Carrier Aggregation
[0230] CC Carrier Component
[0231] CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU
[0232] CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access
[0233] CGI Cell Global Identifier
[0234] CIR Channel Impulse Response
[0235] CP Cyclic Prefix
[0236] CPICH Common Pilot Channel
[0237] CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the
power density in the band
[0238] CQI Channel Quality information
[0239] C-RNTI Cell RNTI
[0240] CSI Channel State Information
[0241] CS-RNTI Configured Scheduling RNTI
[0242] DCCH Dedicated Control Channel
[0243] DCI Downlink Control Information
[0244] DL Downlink
[0245] DM Demodulation
[0246] DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal
[0247] DRX Discontinuous Reception
[0248] DTX Discontinuous Transmission
[0249] DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel
[0250] DUT Device Under Test
[0251] E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)
[0252] E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre
[0253] ECGI Evolved CGI
[0254] eNB E-UTRAN Node
[0255] BePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel
[0256] E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center
[0257] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA
[0258] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN
[0259] FDD Frequency Division Duplex
[0260] FFS For Further Study
[0261] GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network
[0262] gNB Base station in NR
[0263] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System
[0264] GSM Global System for Mobile communication
[0265] HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request
[0266] HO Handover
[0267] HSPA High Speed Packet Access
[0268] HRPD High Rate Packet Data
[0269] L1 Layer 1
[0270] LOS Line of Sight
[0271] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol
[0272] LTE Long-Term Evolution
[0273] MAC Medium Access Control
[0274] MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services
[0275] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single
Frequency Network
[0276] MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe
[0277] MDT Minimization of Drive Tests
[0278] MIB Master Information Block
[0279] MME Mobility Management Entity
[0280] MSC Mobile Switching Center
[0281] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel
[0282] NR New Radio
[0283] OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator
[0284] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
[0285] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
[0286] OSS Operations Support System
[0287] OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival
[0288] O&M Operation and Maintenance
[0289] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel
[0290] P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel
[0291] PCell Primary Cell
[0292] PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
[0293] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel
[0294] PDP Profile Delay Profile
[0295] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
[0296] PGW Packet Gateway
[0297] PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel
[0298] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
[0299] PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator
[0300] PRACH Physical Random Access Channel
[0301] PRS Positioning Reference Signal
[0302] PSS Primary Synchronization Signal
[0303] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel
[0304] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel
[0305] RACH Random Access Channel
[0306] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
[0307] RAN Radio Access Network
[0308] RAT Radio Access Technology
[0309] RLM Radio Link Management
[0310] RNC Radio Network Controller
[0311] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier
[0312] RRC Radio Resource Control
[0313] RRM Radio Resource Management
[0314] RS Reference Signal
[0315] RSCP Received Signal Code Power
[0316] RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal
Received Power
[0317] RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol
Received Quality
[0318] RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator
[0319] RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference
[0320] SCH Synchronization Channel
[0321] SCell Secondary Cell
[0322] SDU Service Data Unit
[0323] SFN System Frame Number
[0324] SGW Serving Gateway
[0325] SI System Information
[0326] SIB System Information Block
[0327] SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
[0328] SON Self Optimized Network
[0329] SS Synchronization Signal
[0330] SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal
[0331] TDD Time Division Duplex
[0332] TDOA Time Difference of Arrival
[0333] TOA Time of Arrival
[0334] TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal
[0335] TTI Transmission Time Interval
[0336] UE User Equipment
[0337] UL Uplink
[0338] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
[0339] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module
[0340] UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival
[0341] UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
[0342] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network
[0343] WCDMA Wide CDMA
[0344] WLAN Wide Local Area Network
APPENDIX
[0345] This appendix is a draft of a contribution to be submitted
for consideration.
[0346] 2.1 Inconsistent RRC Configurations for Type 2 Configured
Grant
[0347] The RRC parameter txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset that
related to multi-antenna and multiple layer transmission are absent
from type 2 configured grant configuration. In 3GPP TS 38.214 6.1.1
states that, if the higher layer parameter txConfig is not
configured, the UE is not expected to be scheduled by DCI format
0_1.
[0348] The ConfiguredGrantConfig contains resourceAllocation
alternatives for type 2 that only can be used for DCI 0_1.
[0349] A way to mitigate the configuration problem is to clarify in
TS 38.214 6.1.1 regarding transmission schemes for configured
grant.
[0350] Proposal 1: Adopt the Text Proposals Provided in Section
2.1.
TABLE-US-00009 >>>Text Proposal for TS 38.214 Section
6.1.2.3>>> - For Type 2 PUSCH transmissions with a
configured grant: the resource allocation follows the higher layer
configuration according to [10, TS 38.321], and UL grant received
on the DCI. The configuration for txConfig, maxRank and
codebookSubset follow PUSCH-Config. >>>End Text Proposal
>>>
[0351] An alternative way is to add those missing parameters into
the type 2 configuration in ConfiguredGrantConfig.
[0352] Proposal 2: Include txConfig, maxRank and codebookSubset in
the ConfiguredGrantConfig.
[0353] 2.2 Retransmission of Configured Grant
[0354] It was discussed at the RAN #94 meeting how to handle the
ambiguity among activation, deactivation and retransmission that
might occur for UE at receiving PDCCH scrambled with CS-RNTI. For
retransmission of configured grant that applies PUSCH-Config IE the
DCI bit field can be different from the PDCCH for activation and
deactivation applies ConfiguredGrantConfig. The NDI flag used to
indicate an activation or retransmission can present at a different
place in PDCCH and therefore cause some problem for UE to detect
and interpret the received PDCCH.
[0355] The DCI bit field of NDI in the activate signal can be other
field (location) in retransmission signal. See below an
illustration for the DCI when the frequency hopping is enabled in
dynamic grant but disabled for configured grant:
[0356] The ambiguity illustrated above can only occur if the DCI is
of DCI format 0_1, which is the normal DCI for scheduling PUSCH.
This is because the length of FDRA, FH and TDRA fields can vary
according to configuration, and these fields are ahead of the NDI
field in DCI format 0_1.
[0357] There are 3 fields in DCI format 0_1 that are ahead of NDI,
and can have different sizes between DCI_dynamic and DCI_UL_GF:
Frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA), Time domain resource
assignment (TDRA), Frequency hopping flag (FH).
[0358] Validation of Activation Signal:
TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10.2-1 Special Fields for DL SPS and UL grant
Type 2 scheduling activation PDCCH validation DCI Format DCI format
DCI format 0_0/0_1 1_0 1_1 HARQ Process No. Set to all `0`s Set to
all `0`s Set to all `0`s Redundancy version Set to all `00` Set to
all `00` For the enabled transport block set to `00`
[0359] The IE for configured grant and normal transmission should
not differ much for same UE and same network. The network may
ensure that the DCI field interpretation will not cause ambiguity
for that UE. Either network configuration aligns the two IEs that
the DCI field are matched at the bit of NDI, or network choose
different configuration for the two IEs but make sure that the
validation field shall be sufficient for UE to differentiate the
retransmission from other 2 DCI formats addressing activation and
deactivation. It is the network's issue to guarantee that there
should be minimum ambiguity for the configured grant mechanism to
work, no further modification is needed in DCI format regarding the
retransmission issue.
[0360] From network configuration perspective, the PUSCH-Config
shall be addressed with best UE capability, and configure grant
configuration should be a subset under the PUSCH configuration.
Retransmission of configured grant is dynamically triggered by
pdcch and therefore follows the PUSCH-Config that is designed for
dynamic grant.
[0361] Proposal 3: Configure Grant Retransmission Shall Apply
PUSCH-Config Configuration.
[0362] Observation 1: Network can Avoid Sending Ambiguity DCIs
by:
[0363] a) Ensure that the total length of the sizes of the
following three fields do not change between the two DCI functions:
i) Frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA); ii) Time domain
resource assignment (TDRA), iii) Frequency hopping flag (FH);
[0364] b) Ensure the "fake" DCI field of NDI and "fake" validation
values to be invalid in a retransmission.
[0365] Proposal 4: UE Detection Should Prioritize the Valid
Detection of Activation/Deactivation than Retransmission.
[0366] Proposal 5: Send LS to RAN2 and Adopt the Text Proposals
Provided Section 2.2
TABLE-US-00011 >>> Text Proposal for 38.321 Section
5.4.1>>> . . . 1> else if an uplink grant for this
PDCCH occasion has been received for this Serving Cell on the PDCCH
for the MAC entity`s CS-RNTI: 2> if the NDI follows activation
or deactivation DCI in the received HARQ information is 0: 3> if
PDCCH contents indicate configured grant Type 2 deactivation: 4>
trigger configured uplink grant confirmation. 3> else if PDCCH
contents indicate configured grant Type 2 activation: 4> trigger
configured uplink grant confirmation; 4> store the uplink grant
for this Serving Cell and the associated HARQ information as
configured uplink grant; 4> initialise or re-initialise the
configured uplink grant for this Serving Cell to start in the
associated PUSCH duration and to recur according to rules in
subclause 5.8.2; 4> set the HARQ Process ID to the HARQ Process
ID associated with this PUSCH duration; 4> consider the NDI bit
for the corresponding HARQ process to have been toggled; 4> stop
the configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
running; 4> deliver the configured uplink grant and the
associated HARQ information to the HARQ entity. 3> else if the
PDCCH content is not valid for activation or deactivation: 4>if
the NDI follows retransmission DCI in the received HARQ information
is 1: 5> consider the NDI for the corresponding HARQ process not
to have been toggled; 5> start or restart the
configuredGrantTimer for the corresponding HARQ process, if
configured; 5> deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQ
information to the HARQ entity. >>> End Text Proposal
>>>
[0367] 2.3 Deactivation of SPS DL and Type 2 Configured Grant
[0368] It is not clear in 38.213 on which DCI field to use for the
validation of release signal.
[0369] "Resource block assignment" shall align with the naming in
DCI format that is the "Frequency domain resource alignment".
[0370] Proposal 6: Adopt the Text Proposal Provided in Section
2.3
TABLE-US-00012 OTHER TEXT PROPOSAL FOR SCHEDULING AND HARQ 3.1 TP
for 38.212: >>>Text Proposal for 38.212 Section 6.3.2.1.1
>>> 6.3.2.1.1 HARQ-ACK If HARQ-ACK bits are transmitted on
a PUSCH, the UCI bit sequence
a.sub.0,a.sub.1,a.sub.2,a.sub.3,...,a.sub.A-1 is determined as
follows: - If UCI is transmitted on PUSCH without UL-SCH and the
UCI includes CSI part 1 without CSI part 2, - if there is no
HARQ-ACK bit given by Subclause 9.1 of [5, TS 38.213], set a.sub.0
= 0, a.sub.1 = 0, and A = 2 ; - if there is only one HARQ-ACK bit
o.sub.0.sup.ACK given by Subclause 9.1 of [5, TS 38.213], set
a.sub.0 = o.sub.0.sup.ACK, a.sub.1 = 0, and A = 2; - otherwise, set
a.sub.i = o.sub.i.sup.ACK , i for i=0,1,...,O.sup.ACK -1 and A =
O.sup.ACK, where the HARQ-ACK bit sequence o.sub.0.sup.ACK,
o.sub.1.sup.ACK,...,o.sub.0.sub.ACK.sub.-1.sup.ACK is given by
Subclause 9.1 of [5, TS 38.213]. >>>End Text Proposal
>>>
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